A New End
by Anneliza
Summary: 5 years after the end of 'A New Life' and everything seems perfect to Arthur and Francis but when someone finds out about their relationship and doesn't agree with it, will everything stay perfect?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

5 years later…

Peter was pushing Chelle on the swings at their local park while Matthew was helping Ange build a castle in the sandbox.

Birds were chirping, the grass was blowing softly, laughter rang through the air. Everything was still and peaceful. Nothing could be-

"STEVEN!"

Alfred's voice cut through the calm and shattered it.

"Steven! Get out of that tree before you fall and hurt yourself!"

The boy stuck his tongue out at him and climbed higher.

Alfred yelled in anger before a soft hand was placed on his shoulder and he relaxed.

"Don't worry Alfred," someone whispered. "He'll be fine. You know he's an amazing climber."

Turning around, he found his boyfriend smiling warmly at him.

"Yeah…I know…"

He smiled lightly and took the other boy's hands in his own.

Someone gagged behind them and they turned to look.

A woman about sixty was bent over and dry heaving into the bushes.

"Do you need a doctor?" Alfred asked, a little worried.

She shook her head.

"N-No. J-Just leave the public displays of affection at home so I can enjoy my walk."

Alfred frowned.

"Are you saying that us holding hands is gross to you?"

"Y-Yes." She pointed to Chelle and Ange. "Do you see that there are children here? They don't need to see that sort of thing!"

Alfred took a step forward, glaring.

"Those 'children' are my sisters and they see stuff like this all the time. Our parents are still very in love."

"But that's okay. That's normal. It's a man a woman. Not a man and a man."

By now Matthew and Peter had figured out what was happening and had come over.

"Excuse me madame," Matthew started and she looked at him. "But we DO have two fathers. And they are very much in love. It doesn't bother us."

The old woman looked horrified.

"You poor children! You've been brainwashed by those sick men!" She took a step toward them and offered her hand. "Come with me and I can help you. Don't be afraid. I won't let them get you again."

Alfred growled and his boyfriend slipped between him and the woman, trying to push him away while Matthew and Peter pulled on his shoulders.

"We are not brainwashed! They are our fathers and we love them! Just leave us alone!"

"But that's sick! It's not natural!"

"I don't care if you think it is but they're our family! Not yours! So butt out!"

The woman's face became unreadable.

"How do you explain not having a mother?"

Alfred's eyes narrowed.

"She died. When we were young."

The woman laughed.

"Is that what they told you? What an obvious lie. You poor children," she repeated sadly. "You obviously don't belong with them. None of you look alike anyway."

"Well we are!"

The woman took his hand.

"You all have been adopted or kidnapped. Those cruel, sick men are lying to you."

Alfred wrenched his hand back.

"Look lady," he started angrily. "You have no idea what we've been through so just drop it!"

The woman sighed and started walking away.

Alfred took a deep breath and relaxed so all the hands on him were removed.

It was then that he noticed her heading to Ange and bending down next to her.

"Oh she better not be doing what I think she is…"

Ange started crying and Matthew hurried over to her, picking her up and holding her close.

"What's wrong Ange?"

"Sh-She…sh-she said that D-Daddy and P-Papa stole me f-from my M-Mommy and th-that you a-aren't my f-family…a-and th-that D-Daddy a-and P-Papa a-are b-bad p-people w-who do g-gross th-things…"

Alfred growled again, having followed Matthew.

"Matthew, take her to the car and try to calm her down. Peter, get everyone else in their carseats and wait for me."

His hand was curled into a fist.

"A-Alfred…D-Daddy and Papa don't like it when you fight…" Matthew said, slightly scared. "A-And I know she said some bad things but she's just an old woman. You aren't really going to hit her…r-right?"

"Just do as I say."

The boys nodded quickly and walked away.

Alfred waited until they were out of earshot before rounding on the woman.

"What was that for?" he demanded. "My sister is five years old! She doesn't need to hear crap like that!"

"I was trying to save her," the woman said simply. "You are all brainwashed and stubborn so I want to save that poor girl from your fate. She needs a proper home."

"She has a proper home! With us! You don't know our story! You don't know our lives! Let us be!"

"I will." She started to leave. "For now."

Alfred started to follow her but his boyfriend stopped him.

"She's not going to do anything. Just go home. Your brothers and sisters are tired and hungry anyway."

He nodded.

"Fine…" He gave him a quick kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow and don't forget about our date next week."

"Of course not. I'll see you tomorrow."

Alfred said 'goodbye' and went to his car.

"What happened?" Matthew whispered from next to him. "You were gone for a long time."

"She was baiting me. I just want to get out of here."

Matthew nodded and Alfred started driving home.

When they got there, he helped get all of the younger kids out before telling Arthur and Francis about what had happened at the park.

They told him to forget about it and that nothing would happen.

Still, that night the whole family fell asleep together in Arthur and Francis's bed.

* * *

AN: So how many of you guessed that my secret project would be a sequel to 'A New Life'? Muhahaha!

But seriously...THIS is the last one. I planned it to be a trilogy for a while now and this one shouldn't be as long as 'ANL' was so it should be only about 10 or 11 chapters at most.

Well...that's what I say for now...


	2. Chapter 2

A week passed and nothing changed except that they stopped going to the park.

It was another lazy summer day and Alfred and Steven were playing a racing game while Matthew and Peter were helping Chelle and Ange with a puzzle. Leon was reading a book in a chair and Emily was painting a portrait of him.

Arthur and Francis were in the kitchen making dinner and the smells permeated the room making everyone very relaxed.

The front door was suddenly kicked open and several men came in; all wearing bulletproof vests and carrying guns.

The girls screamed in terror and Matthew and Peter pulled Chelle and Ange close, holding them protectively. Alfred leapt over the couch and grabbed Emily and Leon. Close behind him, Steven followed Alfred to take Leon out of his arms.

Arthur and Francis ran out of the kitchen at the screams and their eyes widened.

"RUN!" Francis shouted as he launched himself at the closest men.

"You're in charge Alfred!" Arthur yelled. "Watch your siblings and protect them! It seems we are going to be separated for a while!"

With that he also jumped into the fight with Francis.

Alfred wasted no time in ripping the window open and helping the others through before following; they ran towards the garage and dove into the car.

The garage door was barely open before Alfred floored the accelerator and tore out of the garage.

"W-Where are we going?" Matthew shouted as he tried to buckle all of the kids in and stay on his feet at the same time.

"Uncle Antonio's!" Alfred shouted back. "Where else?" He peered ahead. "SHIT!" he screamed as he saw the blockade that had been set up at the end of their driveway. "Hold on tight!"

He forced the wheel to the right and tore through the woods down the secluded road he had made months ago so Arthur and Francis wouldn't know when he snuck out.

"They won't be following us anymore!" he said with pride, looking at the others in the rear-view mirror. As he turned back around, he saw the waiting cars and slammed the brakes to the ground.

But he was far too late.

The car crashed violently into the others and Alfred's head collided with the window.

"G-Go…" he pushed out with difficulty as blood started to slip down the side of his face. "M-Matthew…y-you're t-turn…"

His eyes slid closed and his breathing slowed.

"ALFRED!" Matthew screamed, too shocked to move.

Dozens of men surrounded the car.

"Come out now and you won't be harmed. We just want to help you."

"Leave us alone!" Matthew yelled with tears in his eyes. "We haven't done anything!"

The doors were pulled open and hands reached inside for them.

"It's okay," one tried to say in a soothing tone. "Your captors have been arrested. There is no need to be afraid anymore. They won't get you again."

They were all removed from the car and Alfred was placed in a waiting ambulance.

Chelle saw Arthur and Francis being forced into a squad car and struggled to run over to them.

"Daddy!" she cried. "Papa!" A man tried to grab her. "Help! They're taking us away!"

Both parents fought to get to their daughter but they were firmly restrained.

One of the men picked Chelle up and pushed her into another car as she started crying.

"Don't touch her!" Arthur screamed.

"Shut up!" another man hissed and slammed his fist into Arthur's stomach.

Arthur keeled over, winded, and Chelle's crying increased to sobs.

"D-Don't! Don't hurt him! Don't hurt Daddy!"

Peter pulled her into his lap and tried to comfort her.

"Ssh Chelley…it's going to be okay…we'll see Daddy again soon. And Papa too."

Once all eight children were in the long armored car, it set off; tearing the once happy and peaceful family into pieces.

* * *

The children were brought into a high security building and each given a room.

"You won't be here for too long," a man told them. "Just until we can locate your parents and those men are sentenced to life imprisonment or get the death sentence."

"They're our fathers!" Steven snarled, quite out of character for him as the black sheep of the family. "They're all the family we have!"

"If your proper parents cannot be located, you will be sent to an orphanage," the man continued, ignoring him. "You will be brought food and allowed out of your rooms from three to five for free time. Meals will be served at seven, one, and six on the dot. Lights out is at nine o'clock and no later. You may use the computer in the game room down the hall as long as it is being monitored. We don't want any unsavory messages coming in and traumatizing you further. Speaking of that, we will offer counseling and you will each meet with our counselor once a week and she will see if you can remember anything about your proper parents." He looked at his watch. "Now seeing as how it is almost nine, I would recommend getting comfortable in your bed before the lights are cut."

The man started to walk away when a voice piped up.

"Excuse me but I have a plane to China tomorrow morning," Leon's bored voice said. "And I would rather prefer to be on it."

The man walked over to where Leon was standing in his doorway, behind the bars, and bent down to look him in the face with a slight scowl.

"And why do you have a plane ticket to China?"

"To see my father," Leon said simply.

"Aha!" the man cried. "So you admit that neither of those men are your father! Good boy. You will receive a special treat tomorrow so-"

"I wasn't finished. I have three fathers. Arthur who I live with, Francis who is an adopted father, and my other father Yao who lives in China. Tomorrow is one of my designated visit dates. I wish to be allowed to go."

"No," the man said shortly. "This is an investigation and you must all stay here until it is over."

Again the man tried to leave.

"What about school?" Peter asked quietly.

"You will be educated here with a tutor for each of you. They will be here from eight to noon every day to make sure you aren't falling behind in your studies." The lights suddenly clicked off. "It is now nine so goodnight. You are expected to be awake at six thirty."

"But it's summer!" Steven cried indignantly. "Dad and Papa never made us get up that early in the summer!"

The man descended on his 'room', glaring.

"Take those names out of your vocabulary! They are not who they say they are so stop believing their lies!"

"No!" Steven yelled and spit in the man's face. "I will call my fathers whatever I wish!"

The man wiped his face with a dangerous expression and leaned close to Steven.

"You will regret that," he whispered so only he could hear him. "Just wait." He stood back and straightened his jacket. "You all will have a long time to fix your vocabulary. I would probably say three years at most; six months at the least. So get comfortable."

This time he successfully walked away.

* * *

AN: NOOO! The kids were taken away! And that guard doesn't seem to care about them at all!

What will happen next?


	3. Chapter 3

Arthur and Francis were dragged into a cell and thrown inside.

They smashed into the ground and Arthur groaned in pain.

"What is wrong?" Francis asked, worried, as he hurried over to his lover's side and laid his head in his lap gently.

Arthur just rubbed his head where it met the ground unceremoniously.

"Just…hurts…"

Francis bent down and kissed his forehead gently.

"Désolé mon cher. I wish they had not hurt you."

Tears sparkled in the corner of Arthur's eyes.

"They took our babies away…" he whispered. "They finally managed to do it…and we don't even know what it was we did to lose them!" The tears spilled out as he started crying. "And they threw us in jail! What are they doing to our babies without our knowledge?"

Francis stroked Arthur's cheek gently, trying to comfort him.

"Je sais cheri. Hopefully they will tell us soon and let us out so we can get back to them…"

"No they won't Francis!" Arthur yelled. "They don't want us to be with our babies!"

"Ssh mon cher…ssh…calm down…it will be alright…" Arthur's tears subsided into hiccups and a guard stopped outside their cell and yelled at him to shut up. "Leave him alone!" Francis growled. "We don't even know why we're in here or why they took nos enfants away!"

The guard laughed.

"Oh that's rich. You don't know why you're here? Good one."

"We don't though!" Francis shot back.

The guard stopped laughing.

"Are you serious? How could you not know? You've been charged with kidnapping and assault."

"EXCUSEZ-MOI?" Francis screamed. "We did no such thing! Those children are ours!"

"Yeah right. Let's see THAT pass in court."

"It better. And we better get nos enfants back!"

"You won't. No matter what. You're probably going to get life imprisonment." Francis's face paled at the thought. "Do you see what you're working with?" The guard grinned. "I'm hoping for the death sentence."

Francis growled.

"You will not kill us."

"I would be more than happy to try."

And with that the guard left.

* * *

While Arthur and Francis were in an actual jail cell, the kids all felt like they were too. They were constantly monitored and even when there WASN'T a guard breathing down their necks, there was always someone watching them on the dozens of cameras throughout the area.

To make matters worse, Steven had disappeared before they were woken up for breakfast.

It was now 'free time' and the other six kids were having a small meeting.

"Where do you think they took him?" Peter asked quietly, careful to not be overheard by the guards."We all know they took him away but they won't admit it."

"Why do they want to hurt Stevie?" Chelle asked. "He didn't do anything."

Matthew pulled her into his lap and gently rubbed her back.

"We know Chelle...but there are bad people who do bad things," he lowered his voice. "And I think we're surrounded by them right now."

Her eyes widened a little.

"D-Did they do that?"

"Do what?"

She pointed to the door Steven had just stumbled through.

"STEVEN!" they all yelled as they jumped up and ran over to him.

"What did they do to you?"

Steven's gaze wasn't focused.

"They taught me..."

"What do you mean they taught you? It looks like they beat you up!"

Leon gently touched the boy's nose with his hands and inspected the rest of him.

"Broken nose, black eye, bruised ribs, slightly dislocated jaw, boxed ears, and partially broken left arm."

"Steven," Matthew started, very serious. "What did they do? What did they teach you?"

"To stop fighting." The others gasped. "To give in and let them find my real parents. That those men weren't my family. Only low criminals who kidnapped us for the money."

They all stared at him.

"Steven! Steven no! You know the truth! You've been around for so long! You were there when Leon was born and when Chelle was born! Don't let them do this to you! Don't let them take your family away! Don't let them take YOU away!"

"I have been taught..." His unfocussed eyes turned to meet theirs. "And you will be too. Soon. Very soon."

They all hugged him, trying not to cry.

Their strong, rebellious brother had been broken.

* * *

Leon took Steven to the bathroom to patch him up as best he could and the other five were trying to figure out what to do about Steven and Arthur and Francis.

Their own fate was the last thing on their minds.

"We need to prove that they're our parents or we'll never be allowed to go home..."

"But what if they hurt us like they did to Stevie?"

They all turned to look at the closed door that Leon and Steven were behind.

"We can fight through it. But if they try and hurt you girls then they'll pay. Big time."

"Why didn't Alfred ever come back?"

"That's a good question...I wonder where he is..."

"They put him in an ambrulance," Ange said.

"Ambulance," she was corrected. "Not ambrulance."

"Do you think they hurt him too? Or-?"

"Free time is over," the usual guard said. "Back to your rooms."

"Not until you tell is what you did with Alfred!"

"He was gravely injured in the accident and is currently in the hospital. Now, to your rooms."

They trudged back to their rooms and sat in front of the doors as they waited for them to close.

The guard walked past each room, checking to make sure there was a child inside all of them.

"Where is this one?" He asked as he stopped in front of Leon's room.

"Bathroom."

The guard frowned and walked to the bathroom at the end of the hall.

"He should know to be in his room when free time ends."

When he reached the room, he pounded on the door.

"Free time is over! Get back in-!"

The door opened before he finished and Leon stepped out, looking coolly at him.

"I was on my way when you started to attack the door."

He calmly walked to his room and waited in front of it.

The guard opened his door and let him in.

"Now I expect all of you to stay in there. The counselor will be around soon for those who didn't see her already."

When he walked away, Leon pulled Steven out of the shadows and helped him to his bed, laying him down to keep patching him up.

"How did you do that Leon? Steven was in his room when the guard checked."

"No he wasn't. It looked like he was in his bed, but he was actually under mine. I moved him in here earlier because I knew that if one of us was missing, the guard would concentrate on finding the missing one rather than check if another was actually in his bed. Now I can continue to treat him because we've both already seen the counselor."

"You're a genius Leon."

"Thank you."

"She's coming!" came the sudden warning.

They all scrambled away from their doors and sat down at their small desks, waiting to see who she would pick today.

She stopped in the middle of the hall and pulled back a page on her clipboard, reading it.

"Peter Kirkland," she called out and everyone but Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm over here..." He said quietly.

She heard him however and opened his door long enough to get inside.

* * *

AN: Everyone is going through so much pain! D: I'm sorry! (not really though) Not gonna lie, I LOVED Leon in this chapter. Just so laid back with everything that's going on. XD

Anyway! See ya soon!


	4. Chapter 4

"Get up!" the guard yelled at Arthur. "Get over here, Englishman!"

Arthur slowly stood up and walked over to the bars of his cell.

"What? What do you want?"

"Don't talk to me like that! You're being released temporarily. We need to talk to you."

Arthur's eyes narrowed slightly.

"About what?"

"Do not question me." The door was opened and a rough hand latched onto his arm and dragged him out of it. "Now come with me."

* * *

When their next 'free time' came around, all the kids hurried to hear what the counselor had asked Peter about.

"Are you alright? What did they ask? Did she hurt you?"

Peter didn't answer, shaking his head slowly.

"Talk to us Peter," Matthew said slowly. "They're tearing us apart." He hugged him gently. "I can't lose you too. We've been together through so much…please don't let them win…"

"She just asked me…about HER…"

Matthew's eyes widened.

"W-Why would she do that? That's a VERY sensitive subject. For ALL of us."

Peter nodded.

"I know…and it was hard…"

Matthew hugged him tightly.

"She's gone. I promise she's gone."

Peter started to cry silently against his shoulder.

He slowly stopped and Matthew helped lay him down on his bed.

"Just try and sleep."

Peter nodded and closed his eyes obediently.

Matthew pulled the blanket over him and walked back out to talk to the younger kids.

"Are you all okay?" He looked at Leon. "Is Steven healing?"

He nodded.

"Who is 'she'?" he asked.

Matthew averted his gaze.

"No one that concerns you. Just leave it at that."

Leon started to protest when the guard walked in and clapped his hands.

They all turned to look at him.

"Tomorrow is your first day in court so wear something nice."

"All we have is the clothes you caught us in!"

"You will be provided clothes. Your house was searched for your clothes and other belongings so you could be more comfortable here."

Matthew glared.

"We will NEVER be comfortable here. We want to go home."

The guard seized the front of his shirt.

"For now, this is your home! Get used to it!" Matthew pulled free and backed away, still glaring. "You will be up at six so you can go to court at six-thirty." He peered at his watch. "Your belongings will be here soon." He raised his head to look at them. "You should go to your rooms and wait."

"But it's still free time!" Chelle protested.

The guard bent over and glared in her face.

"You will go to your room. Now."

"But I wanna play with Mattie!" She clutched her brother's leg tightly. "I dun wanna go back yet!"

The man tore her away from him and pulled one of her pigtails.

"Get in your room," he said forcefully as she yelped in pain and started crying.

"Y-Yes sir."

He let go of her hair and Matthew picked her up quickly, rubbing her back and kissing her cheek.

"Ssh chéri. It's going to be okay."

She clutched around his neck and cried into his shoulder.

Leon balled his hands into fists as he watched the girl cry and before he could stop himself, he had leapt up and kicked the guard in the face.

"That was for my sister!" he yelled as he landed. "You do not hurt her!"

The guard grabbed his ankle and threw him at a wall, smashing him face first into it.

His unconscious body fell to the ground and Emily hurried to his side.

"Why do you have to hurt us?!" Matthew demanded. "Why can't you just leave us alone?!"

"Because," he guard said dangerously as he stepped close. "You don't do as you're told. You need to learn to listen to and respect your elders."

He stroked a lock of Chelle's hair and she whimpered fearfully.

"Don't touch my sisters," Matthew warned; he could be very violent if pushed too far. And this guard was reaching his breaking point.

"What are you going to do about it?"

He suddenly pulled on the lock in his hand harshly and Chelle cried out again.

Matthew's face twisted with anger and his eyes turned red.

Before the guard noticed, Matthew had put Chelle down carefully and shoved the guard backwards hard enough to make him stumble before starting to punch him quickly and violently; the guard was easily overtaken.

The man's nose was destroyed and he was soon sporting two black eyes; he was winded by a harsh punch to the stomach and a simple swipe of his leg sent the man toppling into the ground.

Matthew slammed his face into the ground to knock him unconscious.

"M-Matthew?" came a scared voice.

The boy's temporarily red eyes turned back to blue and he looked around.

"W-What?" He spotted the guard underneath him and leapt up in shock. "W-What happened?"

"Y-You kinda went crazy after he pulled Chelle's hair…"

Matthew's eyes widened.

"I-I d-did? I don't remember…" He grasped his head. "I-I…I-I can't be here!"

He ran into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Steven stumbled over to Chelle and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

She slowly pulled her hands away from her ears and opened her eyes.

Turning to look at Steven, she nodded silently.

"Come on," Steven said as he took her hand. "It's time for bed."

He led her into her room and tucked her in.

"Sleep well," he whispered as he kissed her forehead to help her fall asleep.

Tiptoeing out of the room, he crossed to where Emily was kneeling next to Leon.

"Is he…?"

She shook her head.

"No. He's still alive…just unconscious."

Steven laughed uncomfortably.

"I guess those martial arts lessons that Yao was teaching him paid off." Emily didn't say anything. "Help me take him to his room. He needs rest."

Emily nodded and grabbed his legs, Steven grabbing his arms; together they carried him to his bed.

They laid him down and Emily looked carefully at him.

"Are you okay? You came back a mess."

He sighed.

"Yeah…I know. They tried to force me to believe something, and for a while I did, but it wore off and I was back to myself." He looked away. "Though the pain was still there. They did some nasty things down there."

Emily's ears perked up a little.

"Down where?"

"I don't really know. They just led me down to this dark room and…did stuff to me…I don't know what they were doing but it really hurt." He turned around and pushed the back of his hair up to show a long cut that was just starting to scar. "I don't really remember what they were doing but I think they got into my mind…literally…"

* * *

AN: Steven was brainwashed! D: And everyone is hurting so bad!

Sorry, but that's the way it is. I gotta make it so that no one likes that place. Is it working?

But I apologize for the long wait but I was having computer problem after computer problem but I finally got them all sorted out so I can update again!

Oh, and did you guys like Mattie's little freak out?


	5. Chapter 5

_"I don't know what they were doing but it really hurt." He turned around and pushed the back of his hair up to show a long cut that was just starting to scar. "I don't really remember what they were doing but I think they got into my mind…literally…"_

Emily gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, using her other one to gently touch the cut; Steven tensing slightly.

"Th-This isn't fair! We haven't done anything to them and they keep hurting us!" Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she whispered, "I wish Daddy and Papa were here…"

Steven hugged her gently.

"I know Em. They would destroy these people for what they've done."

Emily hugged him tightly as she started to cry.

"Th-They asked about my Mom's death…"

Steven's face darkened and he held her close.

"They have no right to ask you about that! It was a hard time for you and pushing you about it isn't going to make it any easier!"

"They say they're helping us but look around! What are we being helped with?! Al never came back! Matthew doesn't know who he is! Peter hasn't come out of his room in so long! Leon is unconscious! Chelle is terrified and won't stop crying unless she is asleep! We're just lucky that they haven't done anything to Angie yet!"

Steven tried to calm her down.

"I know…we just have to pray that Dad and Papa are declared 'Not Guilty' and we get to go home with them."

"They better be…I don't have anyone else…"

"None of us do…except Leon…" Steven's eyes widened. "Wait…Leon…"

Emily looked at him in confusion.

"What about Leon?"

"His dad is Yao! Yao won't stand for this once he finds out what's going on and will get us out of here! You know how he is when it comes to Leon so we can hope to be out of here soon. There's no way he'll leave us here once he finds out where we are!"

Emily stared at him in shock before smiling and hugging him tightly. "You're right! Yao will save us!" She laughed happily and spun in a little circle.

At six on the dot, a loud bell started going off and the kids fell out of bed in surprise.

"Time to get up!" someone yelled. "Get ready and get out here so we can go to the courthouse!"

All seven kids got dressed as fast as they could and ran to stand in a line in front of the large door they had only ever passed through once.

The usual guard seemed to be missing and an unfamiliar one stepped out to inspect them.

When he decided they were proper, he nodded.

"You are going to walk down this hall when the doors open and get in the car so we can go. You will not talk on the way, during the case, or on the way back unless told. Is that clear?" They nodded. "Good. The doors will be opened soon so be ready."

Matthew picked up Chelle to keep her quiet and Peter picked Ange up.

The door opened shortly and they walked single-file down the hall to the armored car.

Climbing inside, they each took a seat and pulled their seatbelts tight.

The guard climbed into the passenger seat and the driver started the car before slamming out of the underground garage.

'Here we go…'

* * *

Arthur was pushed back into the cell roughly and his knees gave out.

Francis hurried to catch him.

"What happened? Where have you been? I was so worried when I woke up and you weren't here."

Arthur's eyes were shut and he wasn't moving.

"A-Angleterre?" Francis shook him a little. "A-Angleterre?!"

He quickly carried his love over to the bunk and laid him down.

Checking his vitals, Francis discovered that he was alive; just unconscious.

"Désolé mon cher…" he whispered. "I should have been there when they took you..." He stroked the man's cheek gently, brushing a little blood off it. "Just rest. We have to prove our innocence later today. We have to prove how much we love nos enfants and get them back. But we still have a little time until then so take advantage of it…"

Francis kept stroking his cheek silently, eyes shutting sadly.

"You…never looked good in orange…"

His eyes burst open and saw that Arthur was waking up.

"Angleterre!" he cried in surprise and hugged the man.

"F-Francis…?"

He looked down at him and took his hand comfortingly.

"Oui mon cher?"

"They do not like us here…If they try and get you to leave..." He started coughing. "D-Do not go w-with them…"

Francis's eyes widened as Arthur's slid closed again.

* * *

AN: Poor Arthur! What happened to him? And poor Emily being asked about her mother!

New chapter! Woot! I just started college a few days ago and so far it's pretty good. We haven't done much so that gives me plenty of free time to write! :D Yay! I'm going to try and work/finish a lot of what I'm working on so I won't have so much stress. Look for the last chapter of 'Taken' (a Junjo Romantica fic), another chapter or two of 'Why School?' (a Kingdom Hearts fic), a chapter or two of 'Lover' (a Hetalia/Harry Potter crossover), and some more 'Pirate Boy' because you people made me keep working on it! It was supposed to be a oneshot but then you said 'Continue! Continue!' and I started thinking. Bad people!


	6. Chapter 6

Two guards came to the cell and escorted them to a waiting car.

As they drove, Arthur and Francis whispered back and forth in French. Though he would never admit it, Arthur was fluent in French and would only speak it when he wanted something from Francis or if they needed to discuss something without being understood.

This was one of those times.

One of the guards heard them and rapped on the glass divider.

"Oi! None of that! We are almost at the courthouse and the moment we get there, there will be absolutely no noise from either of you unless you are told to speak! Understood?!"

They both nodded and said they agreed before Francis reached over and held Arthur's hand tightly, whispering, "Do not worry. I will figure this out and we will get nos enfants back."

Arthur leaned against Francis's shoulder, tears tickling his eyes.

"I sure hope so Francis," he whispered back. "I sure hope so."

* * *

Matthew followed the guard closely with Chelle in his arms; Peter in the back with Ange. Between them were the other three children. Alfred had never returned.

They all watched the ground, tears in their eyes. They didn't want to go through this. Not with all that had already happened to their family.

Entering the courtroom, they all visibly tensed at the sight of their fathers handcuffed to a table; possibly going to die from the outcome of the trial and definitely not going to be the same again after this whole ordeal was over.

"Papa!" Chelle cried, struggling to get out of Matthew's arms and run over to the Frenchman.

Hearing her, Francis turned around; Arthur turning too.

"What the fuck did you do to my kids?!" he demanded, taking in the bruises, cuts, and generally dirty appearance of his children.

The judge's assistant looked up at the shout and his eyes widened at the state of the seven kids.

"Nothing," the guard said in a monotone voice. "They were like this when we removed them."

The assistant nodded and went back to looking at his papers.

"They most certainly were not!" Francis yelled. "We take very good care of nos enfants! They've never even scraped their knees before! Not even Steven and he's always climbing a tree!"

"We have no reason to hurt these children," the guard pointed out. "So why would we injure them?"

"Who knows?! Just keep your fucking hands off our kids!" Suddenly Arthur's face went pale. "W-Wait…W-Where's my boy?" No one answered him. "Where's my boy?! Where's my Alfred!?" he demanded.

"The stolen boy named Alfred is currently in the hospital. With the state we found him in, we had to take him to the hospital for fear of losing him. The unspeakable horrors of that house still terrify the men that were sent in to save these poor children."

"Our kids didn't need saving from anything! There was nothing wrong! You all just burst down our door one day and stole our kids! We were just enjoying a lazy day when you turned up! We were going to go on a picnic the next day but you took that opportunity away! Now just give us our kids back and leave us the fuck alone!"

The guard ignored him and pointed to a row.

Silently the children shuffled down it and sat quietly; Ange on Peter's lap and Chelle on Matthew's. Emily hugged Steven's arm and kept close to him.

Eventually the courtroom filled up around the kids, though their row remained untouched due to the intimidating guard standing at the end of it.

A man stood up and announced the judge walking into the room.

Everyone stood, Matthew and Peter balancing the girls in their arms, and waited for him to tell them to sit again.

"Today we are studying case 22115; the kidnapping and abuse of eight young children." He looked at the row the kids were sitting in. "And trying to decide what form of punishment is needed for their captors."

Matthew's face paled.

It sounded like the judge's mind was already made up about his fathers' guilt and he was only here to decide how to ruin them.

"Now will the prosecutor come forth and give his opening statement?"

"With pleasure Your Honor."

A man with slick hair and a sly grin stood up and practically pranced over to the jury box.

"I am here in defense of eight poor children who were taken away from their proper parents and horribly abused. I am going to prove that to you and leave no doubt in your mind that these men have not treated the children they stole properly. By the end of this trial you will have no choice but to pronounce these two criminals 'Guilty' and sentence them fittingly."

* * *

AN: Oh noes! Are Arthur and Francis gonna be given a fair trial? The judge seems pretty biased. And if they ARE pronounced 'Guilty' what will happen to their kids?!

Muhahahaha! We shall see!


	7. Chapter 7

The kids trooped back to their rooms late in the afternoon; they were all very dejected.

The trial had gone horribly and none of them wanted to go back the next day.

None of them wanted to see the judge fawn over the prosecutor.

None of them wanted to listen to the prosecutor spouting lies about their fathers.

None of them wanted to feel the fear of possibly losing their fathers.

When they all had entered the hall where they were forced to live, the large door slammed closed, locking them in.

Again Chelle started crying and this time Ange joined her.

Peter tried to calm Ange down while Matthew took care of Chelle but she kept crying.

Matthew put Chelle down and took Ange, also trying to soothe her.

"Give her to me," a tired voice said. "I can make her stop."

They all turned to see the person who had spoken and gasped.

Alfred was leaning against the doorway to the last room, arm in a sling and bandages around his head.

"Alfred!"

Matthew and Peter ran over to him, followed by the others, and hugged him gently.

Matthew put a hand on his shoulder and looked in Alfred's eyes.

"Are you okay? You were gone for such a long time." He closed his eyes and nodded, swaying a little. "Where were you?"

Alfred's eyebrows furrowed.

"They said I was in a hospital to treat my injuries from the crash but I don't think I was…it didn't feel like a hospital. Most hospitals are above ground and I felt like I was in a basement. Everything seemed to echo and I heard screaming some nights but they told me it was just my imagination…"

At this Steven's ears perked up.

"What did they do to you? Do you remember?"

The older boy nodded.

"Yeah. They healed me a lot but they also tried to force me to believe that Dad and Papa weren't our fathers but they couldn't. I was too involved with everything that's happened to every believe that. I will always believe Francis is our Papa even though I know he isn't. But he was more of a parent than SHE ever was."

Leon scowled.

"There's that 'SHE' again! Who is it that we aren't allowed to know about?!" he demanded.

Alfred knelt down in front of the younger boy and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"We don't tell you about her because we don't want to think about her and we don't want you to know about her. She was a horrible person and we want her out of our lives but she always comes back. Our thought is that if we keep you all from learning about her, she'll stay away and won't bother us anymore. And if you don't know who she is, she won't ruin your lives either."

Leon sighed.

"Can you at least tell us who she is?"

"My mother."

* * *

The door burst open and an angry man with long brown hair in a ponytail stormed in.

"I want my son back!" he demanded, grasping the nearest man's collar. "And I will not leave here unless I have him!"

A man walked in.

"Calm down Mr. Wang. We will give you your son back soon. Before that though, I would like to talk to you."

Yao turned to look at him.

"Who are you and how do you know who I am?"

The man smiled.

"Come with me."

He led the other man down the hallway to his office and shut the door behind him.

"Please sit." He indicated the two chairs in front of his desk and Yao sat in one. "I am Allan Philson. I am in charge of watching over your son and his fellows."

"Why are you watching them? Just let them go!"

"Due to the current situation I researched you so I now know all about you. You were born and still live in China, though the location is unknown. You were born on October 10th, year unknown. And you have raised several siblings." He started counting them off on his fingers. "Honda Kiku, Im Yong Soo, Xiao Mei…" He continued counting. "And most recently, your son Wang Jia Long as you call him or 'Leon' as he is better known as. I wonder what it's like to know that your son is raised more by a man that has no connection to him than his own father. Not only that but he goes by the English name he was given rather than his true name. It must be hard."

Yao narrowed his eyes.

"Did you bring me in here just to spite me? I don't care about any of that! I just want you to give me my son!"

"I can't. He is involved in a major investigation. If you participate with us we may be able to release him to you. With full custody. All you have to do is help us. Tell us what you know and your story and he can be all yours." He grinned. "What do you say?" he asked as he held out his hand.

The Chinese man stared at it, thinking.

* * *

AN: Will Yao take the offer or not? Hmm...SUSPENSE. And will Alfred explain why he hates his mother so much? If he does will Leon understand?


	8. Chapter 8

Leon stared at him.

"Your mother?"

Alfred nodded.

"Yeah Leo. Peter's and my mother. We hate her so we don't like to talk about her."

The younger children were all confused.

"Your Mommy is different than ours?" Chelle asked quietly.

"Oui Chelle," Matthew said as he pulled her into his lap. "Ma Maman is different aussi. She was French."

"Why don't we all have the same mom?" Steven asked.

Peter sighed.

"Alfred and I had a mother, that SHE we don't like to talk about, but she died."

"Ma Maman died aussi."

"Peter's and mine died before Dad and Papa were together. Dad was married to our Mom first and when she died we all went to live with Mattie and Papa. Dad and Papa fell in love and then all of you came along."

"But you're still our frères et soeurs!" Matthew nuzzled Chelle, making her giggle. "Et nous vous aimons."

"We do," Alfred followed. "And so do Dad and Papa. No matter what anyone says. Okay?"

The younger ones nodded.

"But wait, how did Dad have us then?" Steven asked quickly. "Women are supposed to have the kids."

"Shì because Dad is definitely a man and he's our mother," Leon added.

All three of the older kids rubbed the back of their necks uncomfortably.

"Ah. Well Dad is a special case. He will tell you that himself sometime. We really can't explain it to you very easily."

"The kids at school tease us about having two dads and no mom," Leon whispered quietly.

Alfred, Matthew, and Peter stared at him. None of them would have expected that some of admittance from the quiet boy.

Matthew pulled him close, Peter taking Chelle into his lap. "I know how you feel, petit. They used to tease moi about that sort of thing too. But they teased me for not having un mère in the first place. We can't help it. But you also have Yao, remember? You have three dads. Dad is your mère so you technically have a mère but they don't understand that."

Leo leaned against him and closed his eyes.

"I hope they leave us alone after this."

"Moi aussi."

The older three shared a look over his head.

* * *

The lawyer smirked as he posed his next statement. "Mr. Kirkland, the little boy-" He quickly checked his notes before continuing. "Leon said something very interesting last night and I would just like to see how you feel about what he said."

"Well what is it?" Arthur said with a quiet growl.

The lawyer's smirk grew.

"It's udder rubbish of course but he said that you are actually his mother, not his father." Arthur's eyes widened and he clenched his hands into fists. "And I was just wondering what made him think this?"

"How did they find out about that?!" Peter hissed to Matthew. "We were only talking about that last night when the eight of us were alone!"

"I don't know!"

Arthur bit his lip to keep from yelling as he said, "Francis is…on top in our relationship and I do most of the chores around our home so we just decided that they should call me 'Mom' to make it easier."

"Is that so? Huh." The other man picked up his notes and waved them at Arthur. "It says here that the little girls Chelle and Ange call you 'Daddy'." He cocked his head at Arthur. "Now why would your youngest children call you 'Daddy' if the other children call you 'Mom'?" Arthur started to answer but the lawyer cut across him. "More over it says that none of your 'supposed' children call you 'Mom' and all of them call you 'Dad' except for Leon who apparently calls you 'Father'. Care to explain this?"

Nervously, Arthur quickly looked at Francis with a look similar to a deer in headlights.

Francis shook his head slightly.

Arthur's desperate face begged him to let him say.

"Do not do it."

"Please Francis!" Arthur cried. "If it makes them believe us and give us our babies back…" He trailed off.

Francis stood up quickly, falling back a little as his restraints were pulled to the limit.

"Do not do it Arthur!"

"Please Francis! Please!"

Francis sighed.

"Amende. Do it if you feel it will accomplish anything."

Nodding a little timidly, Arthur turned back to the lawyer.

"I will show you why he said I am his mother rather than his father." He closed his eyes, Francis doing the same on the other side of the room, and began to chant quietly. Slowly his hair lengthened to his hips and was encased in two pigtails, one on either side of his head. A pair of glasses appeared on his nose as his chest expanded. His hips widened and his legs thinned. The clothing on him disappeared and everyone could clearly see that he had changed into a woman. He opened his eyes, looking rather angry, and yelled, "There! Now do you see why they said I was their mother?!" His voice was higher pitched now. "I can turn into a woman! That's how I've had my children! I did it as a woman!"

Realizing that he was naked and his hair wasn't hiding much, Arthur blushed and tried to cover himself.

Matthew quickly jumped up and ran through the little gate to the courtroom, pulling his coat off. He gently draped it over Arthur's shoulder, averting his eyes.

Arthur pulled it tightly around himself.

"Thank you Matthew." He kissed his forehead kindly. "Now I would go sit down before they get mad." He spotted Alfred, Peter and Steven out of the corner of his eye. "And tell your brothers they can stop covering the girls' faces. There's nothing to see now."

Matthew nodded.

"Oui Père."

He quickly walked back to his seat.

Arthur flipped some of his hair out of his face. 'I really have too much hair. I need to cut it…but it always comes back when I recite the spell.' He sighed and turned to face the speechless lawyer and judge. He saw Francis looking around the courtroom quickly, trying to spot someone checking out his boyfriend.

It was quiet for a long time before the lawyer finally managed to clear his throat.

"Y-You…y-you just turned into a woman…"

"Yeah. I do that," Arthur shot at him. "Get used to it! This form has helped me have several healthy children so I can stand it. I don't like being in it too long though."

The lawyer walked up to the box and leaned against it, grinning at Arthur.

"Well _I_ certainly like it. You should stay in it and come over to my place."

Arthur backed away as far as he could.

"That is my boyfriend!" Francis shouted angrily. "You cannot talk to him like that!"

The man turned to look at him.

"Oh come on. Like you don't want to nail him to the ground every time you see him like this?" He turned back to stare at Arthur; Arthur pulled the coat tighter around him. "You should really leave him for me. I could treat you…" He trailed off, staring at the small bit of her that wasn't completely covered. Arthur noticed where he was looking and turned bright red, quickly crossing his legs. "Right. Better than that frog."

"Hey! Only I am allowed to call him that!"

The lawyer twirled some of Arthur's hair between his fingers.

"Stop touching him this instant!" Francis ordered, standing up again. "He is not yours!"

"There is nothing wrong with me hitting on a lady I fancy!"

"There is when you're prosecuting him! And Arthur is still a man or did you forget?!"

"I didn't forget but it is easy when you have such a beautiful form in front of you." He stroked the side of Arthur's face, Arthur shivering uncomfortably.

"Please stop touching me…"

The lawyer's face darkened.

"No! I will do what I want!" He grabbed the collar of the coat and pulled it harshly. Arthur fell forward and the lawyer kissed him hard.

Francis roared in anger and tried to break his restraints and get to Arthur.

However Steven was the one that vaulted the gate and threw the lawyer away, standing protectively in front of Arthur.

"Don't touch my Dad!" he yelled. Arthur stared at him. "I think it's time for you to be male again Dad."

Arthur nodded quickly and recited the spell that would turn him male once more.

His features returned to normal, the glasses simply disappearing, and he sighed.

"Much better."

The lawyer made a small noise and stirred, starting to get up.

"This is the whole reason why people aren't supposed to know about that. They get…touchy…"

Arthur squirmed.

The judge was staring at him.

"A-Any more questions?"

The lawyer shook his head.

"N-No. That's it."

"Very well then. Mr. Kirkland you may return to your seat."

A guard escorted him back to the table where Francis sat and locked his hands in a pair of handcuffs.

Francis wiggled around until he had his bound hands around Arthur's neck and was pulling him back against him.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't get that one off," he whispered.

Arthur shook his head, getting comfortable against Francis's chest.

"It's okay. You've dealt with almost all the others. It's about time one slipped through."

Francis tilted his head up so they were staring at each other.

"I should never have let any through." He kissed him, trying to remove anything but him from the other's mind.

Arthur moaned quietly and kissed back, closing his eyes.

Eventually Francis pulled away and smiled at him.

"There. All mine again."

The Englishman blushed a little and nodded.

"All yours."

* * *

AN: FINALLY! I finished it! I've had the entire bottom part (all of the courtroom stuff) written for weeks and haven't been able to connect it to the story! Now I have! :D And that part was over 1200 words long (that's longer than a usual chapter!) so you get an extra-long chapter to make up for the wait.

What did you think? I honestly LOVE the courtroom part. I've been in love with it since it was first worked on and wouldn't change a single thing! Pervy lawyer and protective kids and lovers to the rescue!

This is actually the first time I've written any sort or mushy romancy thing and been comfortable with it! Look at this progress! Maybe someday I will be able to write smut! ^-^ Maybe it's because I'm single again...?


	9. Chapter 9

The lawyer sauntered up to Arthur.

"Mr. Kirkland, I would like you to tell us what has happened and how you obtained these children."

"Are you sure you want to hear my story?!" Arthur challenged. "Because if you are, neither of us are going to like it!"

"I'll take my chances."

"Fine!" Arthur took a breath to calm down. "Several years ago I met a woman and fell deeply in love with her. Her name was Alice Walker and within months we were engaged. On October 11th we were married and our first son Alfred was born on July 4th; he was a few weeks early. Things were going well and two years later she was pregnant again; our second son Peter was born on September 2nd. Everything kept going well until our home burned down on April 7th, apparently killing Alice. A neighbor of ours told us that my sons were at her home. Francis, who was at the time only a work acquaintance of mine, offered to give me a ride to pick them up. We had nowhere to go so he offered to let us stay with him. I slipped into shock from losing my wife and Francis helped me recover while taking care of my sons and his own son Matthew who was only four years old. As he took care of me, I started falling in love with him but then Matthew had to be rushed to the hospital because he fell and they all went, leaving me to wait for a friend of his named Antonio to come and watch me. Before he could get to Francis's home, my wife turned up and demanded that we talk. Instead of talking, she really tried to kill me and told me how she had never loved me and had faked her death. Antonio came in and she ran off, letting him find my unconscious body."

"When Antonio saw my body he fainted while on the phone with Francis. Francis also fainted, scaring Alfred and Peter. They started yelling and a nurse came in to shush them. When she noticed Francis she called for a doctor and they learned about Antonio at his home. Paramedics came to the house and found the two of us. Antonio was taken to a hospital room and since I seemed dead I was taken to the morgue. I woke up about a week later and in that time Francis had been committed to the psychiatric ward and my boys had been taken away. Francis had been ranting about how I would come back to life so he was checked in for testing. Matthew was still in the hospital but when he was to be released Antonio would take him since he's his godfather. My boys wanted to go with Antonio too but they weren't allowed so my brother Iain was called to take them. My brother hates children and he took them very grudgingly where they stayed for a few days before Antonio and Lovino took them back. They were brought back to their home in Spain and left with Lovino while Antonio went to a meeting."

"The doctor who had been diagnosing Francis's mental health had turned out to be a fraud and he was released, taking Matthew and I with him. That night that man broke into Antonio and Lovino's home and attacked Lovino. Peter, who had woken up due to the noise, came out to where they were and the man tried to shoot him. Lovino pushed the man so his shot went through his shoulder rather than his head. Distracting the man, Lovino ran with Peter into the room Alfred was sleeping in and hid them both quickly before the man forced his way in and repeatedly shot Lovino. Trying to find Peter, the man ran out of the house. When Antonio came home he found Alfred, Peter, and Lovino and laid them on the bed before showing Alfred what was at the end of his tunnel. That's where Francis and I found them. We had Antonio take Alfred back to the others and take care of them. While we talking, my wife came back and threatened us. Alfred came back to ask us a question and she was very upset to see him. She advanced on him so I ran over and picked him up before she could get to him. Angry, she pointed a gun at him and as she shot, Francis pushed us out of the way and she shot him instead. I grappled with her and sent Alfred back to get Antonio. He quickly restrained her and we removed her from our lives."

Arthur took a deep breath and leaned back in the chair.

"And all of that happened in less than a year. Can I take a break before working on the rest of the story? We still have several years to go through."

The judge nodded.

"I call a fifteen minute recess. We will reconvene after that time is up."

* * *

AN: ARGH! That took forever to write! And to make it make sense...? Yeah...difficult.

But I summed up all of the first story in 721 words. Exhausting. I packed WAAAY too much drama into that story. Totally worth it though. The first paragraph is only through chapter 6 by the way. The second one is through chapter 13. And of course the last one is through the end. When I write the second part it will be a lot less specific and should be shorter since I can skip over a lot of the kidnapping part. That should be easier.

Well, see ya then! :D


	10. Chapter 10

The judge banged his gavel to quiet the crowd and looked at Arthur.

"You may continue."

Arthur nodded.

"Thank you." He cleared his throat. "Less than a year later, I found myself expecting Francis's and my first son, Steven. About seven months after he was born, I was taken away without my consent along with five others and Antonio's son. Most of us were treated horribly and our families tried desperately to find us. Eventually they figured out where we were and attacked it to get us back. Shortly after we got home I found out I was pregnant again but the baby wasn't Francis's. He wasn't mad though. I was so grateful for that. He was upset with the fact that I had been raped. We had the father come over to talk but couldn't make a decision about what to do. A few days later Francis and I had a fight and I walked out on him, taking all four of our children with me. I moved in with the father and we started to become friends again. He helped me realize how foolish I had been and I went back to Francis. He was kind enough to take us back and I promised my next child would be his. It was; our daughter Chelle was born ten months after Leon on June 29th. On December 27th the following year, the two of us came home to find a newborn baby on our doorstep, covered in snow. We quickly brought her in and discovered that this child was the child of my wife. She was still alive and happy with her boyfriend but had had another baby that she didn't want so she had left the baby to us. We kept her and named her 'Ange'. Five months later a young woman named Margaret came to our home with her five year old daughter Emily. She told me that I was the father of her baby. Asking her to explain, she told us that she was going to die and desperately needed someone to take her daughter in before that. Since we were still not convinced, she told us that the real father was my brother Iain. She had gone to him when she was pregnant but he had refused to do a thing about it so she had been forced to raise Emily all by herself. We ended up taking her in as well and three days later Margaret died. Things passed without incident for five years until an old woman in a public park decided she had something against my oldest son being gay and with Francis and I dating and raising eight children. What in that is fair?" He took a deep breath and tried to control himself. "That's my story! It's all true whether you believe it or not!"

The lawyer nodded, deep in thought.

"We saw that you had several illegal animals at your home. None of those are safe around children." He looked at a sheet. "There was a polar bear-"

"He's only a cub!"

"And a koala."

"That's Steven's best friend!"

"And a very endangered panda cub."

"That was a birthday gift to Leon from his father!"

"And there was also a very large fish."

"Chelle loves it!"

"And there was even an alien."

"Tony is family!"

"I think that the government should be alerted to the presence of it."

Arthur shifted and looked down.

"They already know about him…and they keep a close tab on him…"

The lawyer raised his eyebrow at the obviously uncomfortable man.

"No more questions."

"Very well. Mr. Kirkland, you may step down."

A guard silently escorted Arthur back to the table.

"Do you have anyone else to question?" the judge asked the lawyer.

"Yes. I call Peter Kirkland to the stand."

Gasps and whispers broke out amongst the crowd. No one had expected that the poor boy would be put on show like that and the other man hadn't even been questioned.

Slowly Peter stood up, set Ange in Steven's lap, and walked up to the box; once he was situated the lawyer approached him.

"Good afternoon Peter. I just have a couple of questions for you then you may return to your seat. Does that sound fair?" Peter nodded. "That's the spirit. Now, how old were you during the first part of Mr. Kirkland's story? The part that he talked about before the break?"

"I was three."

"Do you remember your mother?"

"Yes."

"What do you remember?"

"She's average height with shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes, and a horrible temper."

"Mr. Kirkland said in his story that you were shot. Is this true?" Peter nodded again. "How can you prove it?"

The boy pulled the collar of his shirt down and pointed to a stretched mark.

"That's where the quack doctor shot me. If Uncle Lovino hadn't been there I might not be here."

"And what did this 'quack doctor' look like?"

"He was tall with dirty, brown hair, a goatee, and big ears. He also wore glasses and at the time they were crooked and smudged. He was dressed like a doctor in a white lab coat with slacks and a nice shirt underneath it."

"You seem to remember him quite well."

Peter's hands fidgeted in his lap.

"I have nightmares about him shooting me sometimes," Peter admitted in a whisper.

"And where were Mr. Kirkland and Mr. Bonnefoy at this time? Shouldn't they have been watching you?"

"Dad and Papa were at the hospital with Matt."

"Why was Matthew in the hospital?"

"Matt had fallen when we were playing and hit his head."

"Why don't you have a pet or 'friend' like some of your siblings?"

"I didn't want one," the boy said honestly.

The lawyer nodded.

"That should be all."

"You may return to your seat," the judge said kindly.

Peter stood up and walked back to sit next to Emily, taking Ange back from Steven.

* * *

AN: I'm baaaack! Who missed me? Anyone? *mumbles 'probably not because this story only has four reviews'*

But I'm sorry I was gone so long. My computer was being annoying again and refusing to charge so I had to take it to a couple different places and finally got it back a few days ago and have been busy with homework and typing up what I wrote for you so more chapters coming soon! Up to like 12 or 13! What will happen to them? The end of the trial is in sight but don't think for a minute that that's the end! I have so much more in store for the few of you who care!

See ya soon!


	11. Chapter 11

"I have a question for Mr. Bonnefoy." Francis looked up, nodded silently and stood. He was led over to the box and pushed inside, the lawyer grinning and walking close. "Mr. Bonnefoy, how are we to believe that you and Mr. Kirkland raised all of those children with how young you both are? You appear to be around your mid-twenties and Mr. Kirkland looks to be in his early twenties yet the oldest boy is fifteen. How could Mr. Kirkland be his father?"

Francis flipped his hair out of his face. "Well you see. We both seem to be young like you say, but we are in fact much older than we appear. Looks can be deceiving you know." He winked.

The lawyer's smile hardened a little.

"Oh? And how old are you really then?"

Francis tipped his head back and thought hard.

"Hmm…around two thousand now." He smiled brightly. The entire room burst into laughter. "I am just kidding. I am about forty and Arthur is about thirty six."

The lawyer stepped away and a huge grin on his face.

"You cannot possibly be that old when you look so young."

Francis leaned back in the chair and ran a hand through his hair.

"Oui but we keep up well, do we not? We found the trick to staying beautiful forever."

Again he winked.

"Well that information isn't going to help you very much." The lawyer stepped up to a projector. "The blood test results are finally in and we have some pretty damning information to reveal." The lawyer turned a projector on and an image of the results was displayed. "Now, you can quite clearly see a few similarities straight away such as between Alfred and Peter, who are in fact brothers, but there is also quite a bit here that doesn't line up. Look here for instance-" He pointed to Leon's name. "There are a few matches between Leon and Mr. Kirkland but not as many as between him and Mr. Wang."

Another image popped up.

"Yao is his father!" Arthur shouted. "Of course there would be matches!"

"And I want to point out this funny statement." He indicated Emily's name, completely ignoring Arthur. "Emily shares nothing with Mr. Bonnefoy and very little with Mr. Kirkland but she did match up a lot with another person." The name 'Iain Kirkland' appeared on the screen. "Iain Kirkland, brother of Arthur Kirkland and actual father of Emily Kirkland." Emily gasped. "Mr. Kirkland was raising his niece, not his daughter."

"I already told you that my brother doesn't like kids so we took her instead! We both love and care for her more than he ever would have. He didn't even want her!"

Emily burst into tears and Peter tried to calm her down.

"And last, sharing absolutely nothing with either Mr. Kirkland or Mr. Bonnefoy is Ange, also known as Angelica. Angelica was yet another child taken in and raised by these two men but she was stolen away from her poor parents who have been looking for her since the day they lost her; the day she was born. Angelica has been traced back to Lauren Webb and Michael Norton."

Arthur jumped up.

"Lauren Webb is the name my wife took after she faked her death! I told you Ange was the child of my wife and her boyfriend already but they put her on our doorstep to die! They don't deserve to have her back! Not only that but we love her! We've raised her almost from birth! We're the only ones she knows and we're the only ones who have given her a family and a chance at life!"

The lawyer held up a piece of paper.

"This says something different. It's a police report filed on December about a missing child; January 4th, four years ago. This poor couple has been missing their baby daughter for four long years."

"January 4th? But that's a week after she was born! Why would they wait so long to say she was missing if they really cared?!

"They said they were too distraught to do anything straight away."

"Bullshit!"

"Language, Mr. Kirkland. There are children present after all."

Arthur sat down, scowling.

"I think that it's time for closing arguments then the jury will decide."

The lawyer sauntered up to the jury box.

"Ladies and gentlemen, over the last few weeks I have shown you evidence that these two men have taken children that are not related to them and treated them horribly. I want you to make the right decision. These children deserve better than this! They deserve happiness! They deserve to know a world without fear and pain. They deserve to go back to their real families. Please let them."

The lawyer turned and walked back to his seat, winking at Arthur and Francis on the way.

The lawyer representing them stood up, gave a short, halfhearted speech, and sat back down.

"We will take a recess while the jury decides."

The judge pounded his gavel on his desk before leaving.

* * *

AN: I finally got this up. I need a break from finals so I decided to finally finish this up. Sorry about the wait.

I realized that no one would believe that Arthur and Francis raised the kids with how young they are so I added that little part at the beginning. And I got to talk about the DNA tests that I've been waiting FOREVER for. Next chapter they will be sentenced. What will the jury decide?


	12. Chapter 12

Arthur and Francis were led out of the room while the eight kids were led out another door.

"I'm scared," Chelle whispered, shaking.

Trying to comfort the small girl, Matthew picked her up and held her close. He stroked her hair and let her wrap her arms around his neck.

"I know Chelle. Daddy and Papa are in trouble."

Emily was had started sniffling and Alfred knelt down in front of her.

"What's wrong, Em?"

"You a-aren't r-really my b-brother," she hiccupped.

He hugged her gently.

"No. I'm not. I'm technically your cousin but that doesn't matter. Dad and Papa raised you and they raised you as their daughter, not their niece. They love you Emily and so do we. Yes they aren't your real dads but your real dad isn't very nice. They treated you a lot better than he would have. And while we may be your cousins, we still think you're our sister. Not just because we were taught that but because we believe it as well. You're _our_ family. Not his. Okay?" She nodded, wiping her eyes. "Same for you two," Alfred said to Leon and Ange. "No matter what, you're still our family."

They nodded also.

A bell rang suddenly and they all jumped.

"Time to go," the guard said and walked behind them as they trooped back into the courtroom to hear the jury's decision.

Slipping into the same row as before, the eight children sat close together; Chelle on Alfred's lap, Ange on Matthew's, held very closely and tightly. Peter reached over and took Emily's hand, she took Steven's, he took Leon's and so on until they were all linked.

Completely silent, the jury walked back into the room and took their seats.

The judge nodded to them and one stood up.

"We find the defendants-" Everyone held their breath. "Guilty on all charges." All the girls burst into tears while the boys tried to keep a tough appearance though the strain was obvious by the tension in their knuckles. "We hereby sentence them to death by electric chair. The children they had shall be sent back to their proper parents. If they are unavailable, they will be sent to an orphanage to await further action."

The judge nodded.

"That decides it. Will Iain Kirkland, Yao Wang, and Lauren Webb please stand up and claim your children?"

Three figures stood up and walked to the row that their kids were sitting in.

A woman yanked Ange out of Matthew's arms.

"Oh darling!" she cried, holding her close. "We've missed you so much! We never gave up hope that we'd see you again!"

Ange was confused, this woman seemed to know her but she was sure she didn't know the woman.

"Who are you?"

"Oh dear, I'm your mom! Your Daddy and I have been so worried!"

"Daddy?" Ange asked, turning to look back at Arthur.

"No no baby. Your REAL Daddy." She started to walk away. "Come on. Let's go see him. He's missed you so much."

Yao took Leon's hand.

"We're going home now, Long Jia. Mei and Im Yong Soo will be happy to see you. They don't get to see you very often. Even Koneko has asked to see you. And Oji Kiku too."

As Leon was led away, Iain grabbed Emily's hand.

"Awrite Emily. Nice tae meit ye."

Emily stood up and quietly followed the man out, not thinking of anyway out of her current situation.

The other kids watched them leave sadly before looking back at their fathers. The men were keeping a strong front but both were shaking on the inside as they too were led away.

The guard cleared his throat and the kids stood up quickly, Alfred holding Chelle. The guard stepped out of the way and they walked out of the courtroom.

The car was waiting for them and they climbed in silently.

Not a word was spoken as the car moved.

* * *

Ange was very confused as she was led out of the courtroom by the tall woman carrying her. Why wasn't she going home with her Daddy or her Papa? Why had they said that she was not theirs? Why did they say that this woman was her mama? Who was she anyway? Turning her head to look up at the woman, she studied the side of her face. She couldn't tell if there was any sort of resemblance between them but then again, she didn't really know what that meant.

Getting lost in her thoughts, Ange didn't notice the woman place her in a small car.

"Where we goin'?" she asked but the woman didn't answer. "Lady? You takin' me home?" Again she was ignored so she simply sat back on the chair and tried to reach for her seat belt. "Lady? Seatbelt's too far away. Can't reach."

"Then just hold onto the armrest or something!" she snapped, a vein pounding in her forehead. "I'm busy right now!"

Ange looked down at her lap, a little scared. She was determined not to say anything else to the woman for fear of being spoken to harshly again.

Too distracted to notice the car starting, she was brought back to reality as she fell to the floor with a thump.

* * *

When the car stopped they got out and stared at the building in front of them.

"Where are we?" Alfred asked as he looked around.

"Your new home," the guard said shortly. "Now get inside."

Alfred looked at Matthew who nodded and led the kids into the building.

"See you never," he spat at the guard.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," the guard returned and slipped back into the car.

Alfred threw him a sharp glare before carrying Chelle inside and worked his way to the front of the kids, unconsciously shifting to block them from view.

"Are you the kids that were supposed to be dropped off?" the woman in charge asked.

Alfred narrowed his eyes and made himself appear bigger.

"We are the children of Francis Bonnefoy and Arthur Kirkland. We are not orphans and we will not be here for very long," he said defiantly.

The woman rolled her eyes.

"That's what they all say. Do you still believe that they will come back for you?"

"They will!" Steven shot back. "It's not their fault that they can't take care of us right now!"

"Yeah yeah." The woman turned and started to walk away. "Follow me and we'll see if we can get you set up."

* * *

AN: Yes yes yes. I know! This isn't what any of you wanted but hey! It's _ MY_ story! The whole story was planned out that they would be declared guilty, okay?!

But yes, they_ are _declared guilty and their kids _are _taken away! Lauren, who Arthur thinks is Alice, takes Ange, Yao takes Leon back (Long Jia), and Iain takes Emily. What will happen to them?!

And with the other five going to the orphanage, will they ever be reunited?! Will they be there forever?! We don't know yet!

But don't worry! We're nowhere near the end! Okay I'm gonna go hide now while you are reading this so you can't hurt me! Bai! *runs away*


	13. Chapter 13

It was a cold day so the Fernandez Carriedo-Vargas family was hidden away inside their cozy house, trying to keep their minds off the temperature.

Antonio was sitting on the floor with Maria in his lap, telling her a story in Spanish. She was giggling at the story and her father as he gave the characters voices. Tore was nearby the roaring fire in the fireplace trying to pretend that he wasn't interested but was actually listening closely; this story was a favorite of his and Maria both. Next to him, Lovino was lounging in a comfortable chair, flipping through a magazine about fruits and vegetables and focusing in particular on the section about tomatoes.

"Cuando ella se acercó al rey, comenzó a salir de su escondite y se agarró de un brazo," Antonio said dramatically.

At that moment the door burst open and several men ran in.

Maria shrieked in fear and clutched her papá around the neck tightly. He in turn jumped up and held her protectively as Lovino scrambled to his feet.

"What do you bastards want?!" he demanded.

"Antonio Fernandez Carriedo!" one who seemed to be the leader shouted. "Lovino Vargas! Rinde! Surrender!"

Quickly putting Maria down, Antonio pushed her toward Tore.

"Tore, uscire di qui!"

Tore nodded and grabbed Maria's hand, dragging her out of the room.

"Papà!" she cried, trying to go back. "Papà!"

"Stop it Maria!" Tore yelled, tugging on her hand harder. "We have to go! Papà and Mamma can take care of themselves!" Sniffling, Maria let him drag her into the guest room. "It's around here somewhere," he muttered as he peered at the wall closely. "A ha!"

Pushing a button caused part of the wall to open up and Tore dashed inside, closing it behind Maria.

"Where are we?" Maria asked as she looked around.

"Papà's secret place. Now come on! We have to keep moving!"

He pulled her along until they reached an inlet of water with a large boat sitting in it.

"Papà's ship..." she whispered, awed.

Tore nodded.

"Si." He heard movement. "We have to hide."

They hurried to the ship and climbed aboard.

"Up there!" Tore declared, pointing. "The crow's nest."

He helped her climb up and inside it before sitting down next to her, back against the wood and head below the top.

Scared, Maria started shaking and he put an arm around her, holding her close, and stroked her hair to keep her quiet.

"When she got close to the king, he jumped out of his hiding spot and grabbed her arm," he whispered, picking up from where their papà had left off. "She, surprised, dropped her apron out of which fell beautiful roses into which the bread had been transformed." Loud banging echoed down the cavern tunnel as the men got closer. "Great was the surprise of the king for he thought she was carrying food. Then, in his rage, he said, 'Elvira, you are in league with the evil one and you and your lover shall die!'" The banging was getting louder and Maria whimpered fearfully. "Elvira and Alaric were so shocked at what had happened that they couldn't speak and allowed themselves to be separated." Voices could be vaguely heard. "The king said that the next day his daughter and her lover would be burnt in the public square for dealing with the evil one." The voices were getting louder and Tore spoke even softer to keep from being heard. "Many tried to make the king change his mind but he wouldn't and all night Elvira and Alaric prepared for death." Running feet could be heard from below. "Elvira's old tutor went before the king and offered his life to save theirs." Men climbed onto the ship and started to search it; Tore held his sister protectively. "Angry, the king slammed his staff into the ground and said that if God could make it grow leaves by the next day, no one would be killed." The men reconvened on the deck. "Elvira cried over the staff and prayed all night so that when the next day came it had grown into a tree." A shot was fired that passed through the wood and embedded itself in Maria's stomach. "Th-The king was amazed and ordered a church be built," Tore whispered between his tears, trying to finish the story. "Elvira and Alaric were married and lived happily together." Blood spilled out of the small girl, painting everything red.

"Up there," one of the men said, spotting the wood which was quickly darkening.

Maria's eyes slid closed.

"MARIA!" Tore screamed. "Papà! Papà, help! Mamma! Mamma, Maria is hurt!"

One of the men jumped over the side of the crow's nest and grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

"Shut up, brat!" he snarled. "Your fucking parents are dead and nothing you do is going to change that! Now come along quietly or I will make you and you won't like that!"

"F-Fine. J-Just don't hurt Maria anymore."

"You're not in any position to make demands of me."

And to prove his point, the man grabbed her arm and twisted it until it snapped.

"Maria!" He tore out of the man's grip and hugged her close protectively. "Stop hurting her! She's only cinque! If you have to hurt someone, hurt me! I can stand it!"

The man grabbed him again.

"Do not think I'm done with either of you."

With that he snatched Maria away from Tore and threw her over the edge of the nest.

"MARIA!" Tore screamed for the second time as he watched her fall.

The man holding him swung his leg out of the nest and climbed down to the deck, holding him tightly by the scruff of his neck.

"We got 'em," he told the others. "Let's get out of here."

They nodded and carried them out of the shipyard.

* * *

AN: Finally a new chapter! I've been so busy with finals and Christmas and Ikkicon and a friend coming over so I didn't have time to write. But now you get a chapter! :D

The story Spain is telling his kids is an old children's story called 'Elvira, the Sainted Princess'. Here's a link: European_folktales/Romanic_folktale_

I thought I would do something different and tell a story that lines up with a story being told so like when he says 'Cuando ella se acercó al rey, comenzó a salir de su escondite y se agarró de un brazo' the people burst in on them. I hope you thought that was interesting!


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